Taitenschild

7-1 || Monsters in Cages (Part I)

It wasn't until she'd entered the Temple of Aeon that Eliah heard Balint's footsteps echoing behind hers. She turned and fixed him with a glare.

'You shouldn't be here, Gunnarschild.'

Balint crossed his arms over his chest. 'Of course I should. It would be dishonourable for me to allow someone so wea— no, I mean small— wait, no, I mean...' He coughed awkwardly, cleared his throat and puffed up his chest before continuing confidently, 'I couldn't allow a fellow rankmate to enter the menials' domain on her own.'

'Right... Well, I'm perfectly fine on my own, so you can leave.' Shaking her head, Eliah continued on into the Temple.

But instead of heading towards the exit, Balint's footsteps hurried towards her. With a few long strides, he was blocking her path

'Menials hate warrior-trainees,' said Balint, his countenance serious.

'I'm well aware,' Eliah replied drily, and walked around him.

She sighed as he fell into step beside her.

'They've been getting more daring since Tyrant Ylva departed, you know. Didn't you hear what happened last moon? A pair of blasphemers used their magicks to attack a soldier and his son who were praying to Aeon.'

Eliah nearly snorted, but managed to cover her nose and mouth before the noise could escape. It didn't surprise her that the warriors were circulating a very different version of events to what she'd heard from Hal.

Few Seren visited the Temple of their own volition. Aeon may have been the Great Mother of the Gods, but Seras was the father of the Seren, and the only worship He required was victory in battle. For a population more used to living wild with nature and spilling blood on dirt and sand, Aeon's cold, stone House was too eerie for comfort, let alone worship. Seren warriors would not set foot inside it unless they'd been summoned for Counsel or Vigil, neither of which could resume until Ylva returned from beyond the Gate.

But in the three years since Eliah had inadvertently destroyed the Arena ward, the number of warriors trespassing in the Temple of Aeon had increased dramatically. Soldiers, shieldmaidens and warrior-trainees alike had set upon the menials' housing in the lower floors intent on punishing them for what they perceived as sabotage.

Some had ventured even further below ground to strike at the doors to the Cages. Aramir's "victory" in the pit had given rise to a new generation of warriors Void-bent on becoming Titans, and the most foolish and impatient thought they could gain an advantage by taking on the creatures while they were caged.

Fortunately the entire Temple was rigged with wards. Alarms alerted Hal and Ove to the intruders, and together, they'd removed the trespassers from their domain. Hal had been positively giddy with excitement at the opportunity to test out the remainder of his secret battle magic kit. And those who weren't aware of why Ove Toveschild had been given the position of Marshal learned that he was just as capable as Regis Thearrischild at crushing any soldier who dared to think him weak.

Alas, both men were burdened with duties that oft took them from the vicinity of the Temple, and neither was strong enough to hold their ground against multiple enemies without the other present. With that knowledge, the Marshal had requested a guard rotation – only to be met with cold, hard reality: even with orders to guard them, Titans, soldiers and shieldmaidens simply did not care about the safety of the menials or the Temple.

The only people willing to defend the menials were the menials themselves.

So, with permission from a pragmatic Thearris and an extremely reluctant Einar, Hal was given leave to train a small group in defensive magicks. He had also taken the liberty of arming some of the more powerful defensive spells built into the Temple walls, but the Tyrants didn't need to know that. Ove, on the other hand, had scouted their numbers for others like him: menials who had demonstrated enough magic to disqualify them from the warrior ranks, but who would have passed muster as soldiers otherwise.